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New Orleans Jazz Fest

Source: Chris Graythen / Getty

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been canceled for the second year in a row. Its organizers shared the announcement on Sunday and cited Louisana’s rise in coronavirus cases as the reason that the annual festival — which is usually held in late April to early May — was canceled for its October festivities this year.

“As a result of the current exponential growth of new COVID cases in the New Orleans and the region and the ongoing public health emergency, we must sadly announce that the 2021 edition of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, scheduled to take place October 8 -17, 2021, will not occur as planned,” a statement via the festival’s Twitter account read.

Urging ticketholders to “follow the guidelines and protocols” put in place in their respective cities in regards to the influx of COVID cases happening across the country — partly due to the widespread Delta variant — the jazz festival’s statement went onto reassure its patrons that their tickets would be refunded. The organizers also have plans to issue further details on its “rollover process” will go for those who’d bought tickets in 2020 and once again have had to deal with the concert being canceled.

 

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Headliners for this year’s festival includeD Lizzo, Demi Lovato, H.E.R., Stevie Nicks, Ludacris, The Rolling Stones, and more. Next year’s concert is scheduled to happen from April 29 to May 8.

The news of the cancellation comes just over a week after New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell reinstated a mandatory mask mandate for the city.

On August 6, local news source WWL reported that Louisiana experienced “record-setting hospitalizations.”

“Across the state, 2,421 people were hospitalized with COVID as of Friday. That’s a jump of 71 from the previous day’s total. 90% of those patients are unvaccinated,” the source detailed.

The Washington Post estimates only “37.6 percent of people” in the state are fully vaccinated, according to its analysis.

“Thanks to the Delta variant, the COVID pandemic is once again raging out of control,” Cantrell had said in a press conference. “We have been here before… and what was once unpreventable, today is preventable.”

View the clip about Cantrell talking about the new mask mandate down below.

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